0 Heritage Chili

With chili, it is never just one thing. When done right, everything that is added to the chili makes it better. This evening's chili (which of course started cooking around sunset yesterday) came together especially well. It might be my imagination, but I have to credit a secret ingredient -- one inspired by my Scottish heritage.

It all began with a calendar item we noticed last fall -- the second annual brewfest aboard the fantail of the USS Massachusetts in Battleship Cove, Fall River. We had a chance to learn some nautical history, honor veterans, and enjoy an extraordinary variety of beers in a unique setting, so we got tickets right away. (If there is to be a 3rd annual, it has not yet been announced -- fingers are crossed!)

Among the most interesting beers was a Scottish ale that was aged in bourbon-infused oak. I did not note the brewer and could not find a recipe -- nor do I have any oak barrels. But I did purchase a kit for Scottish Wee Heavy, along with some French oak chips that are like those I use when making red wine. It was not difficult to find bourbon in our kitchen. I soaked the chips in the bourbon, and then put them in the fermenter with the ale. I think it is going to be terrific when we open them in a few weeks.

Meanwhile, we had a little problem on bottling day -- not enough caps! We had already started to the process, and realized we would have the equivalent of a wine bottle's worth of beer that we would not be able to bottle. That is, it would not be proofed or sealed, and would just be flat beer -- albeit it a flat beer with strong, complex flavor.

So guess what was the first ingredient in the family crock pot -- a bit of oakey, bourbonish, wee heavy!  We don't yet know how the beer will be, but the chili was magnificent -- sweet, tangy, and complex.

(Incidentally, a quick search of this blog for the word chili reveals that I have still not divulged the basic recipe, though I described the other key ingredient -- time -- in our silver-anniversary post. The rest of the story will be told ... eventually!

Detail: Heritage Chili

0 My first pot roast

We spent some time with the family in Maryland over the holiday break. I did much of the food preparation for my mother and stepfather who are both experiencing some health problems. We did some food shopping with the list my mother prepared which included a pot roast. I wasn't even sure what to look for in the meat department, but a nice piece of beef labeled "chuck roast" seemed to fill the bill. I took it back, and with my mother guiding me through, I put the meat in the slow cooker along with a bit of wine, some garlic, onions, celery, and carrots. It cooked for a very long time (hence the name slow cooker, I guess) and in the mean time some friends of my parents came by with crab cakes from G&M, so the roast had to wait until the next day to be eaten. I was pleasantly surprised that even after being taken out of the slow cooker, put in the refrigerator, and then heated in the microwave that it was still very tender (and tasty too!) James had already left Maryland by then, but as an added bonus I got to enjoy this meal with my brother, whom I rarely get to see. It was almost like a family dinner. James and I are not big beef eaters, but next time we decide to have a red-meat based meal, I think I will try this at home.

Detail: My first pot roast

0 A soup enjoyed by all

I happened across this recipe for Andalusian Chickpea and Spinach Soup in the New York Times yesterday. The description says it is a "comforting soup this is still suitable for a late spring/early summer meal. With heavy rains, and cool temperatures, it seemed like the perfect day for a hearty soup. And although I had no chickpeas, figured I could adapt it with some other kind of bean. My daughter, now home from boarding school for this summer, doesn't like garbanzos in any case. I used some dried black beans instead which I was able to begin soaking when I was home for lunch, so they'd be ready when I came back from work. I followed the directions for cooking the soaked beans, and then after they'd cooked a bit over an hour, began the other preparations. I used our indispensable cast iron cooking pot to sautee the onion and garlic, then added the canned tomato and paprika, Once this cooked down a bit I added the potatoes, beans, and cooking wine, and let simmer for 1/2 an hour. Before serving I added the spinach (less than the pound called for in the recipe, but it was what I had frozen from a previous meal) and a pinch of saffron, some garlic salt, and pepper. Everyone liked this, especially served with some warm yogurt bread from our bread machine (which I was also able to start during my lunch break - living next to work sure has its advantages). Yogurt bread, by the way is about the simplest recipe found in my bread machine recipe book. Yogurt, brown sugar, flour and yeast are the only ingredients.

Detail: A soup enjoyed by all

0 No Vampires Were Harmed

... in the preparation of this dinner. 

We originally planned to make this dinner on Sunday evening. Our choice to delay until Monday was entirely based on its long cooking time; it is only a coincidence that our presentation at church Sunday morning had been about our real-life journey to Transylvania, where we encountered no vampires but developed an intense interest in them!

The coincidence came to mind as this slow-cooking meal cooked slowly this afternoon, and the house filled with garlic. We use a lot of garlic in our house, usually a clove or two at a time, either fresh or frozen from our organic summer harvest. I usually avoid recipes that are as garlic-forward as Slow-Roasted Garlic and Lemon Chicken turned out to be, but the recommendation of a fellow foodie convinced us to try. The ease of preparation was also an enticement.

Earlier today, we had been invited to speak to students in a nutrition course about several areas of our shared interest, including coffee, chocolate, and food in general. This very blog was among the topics we discussed, since those with an interest in eating better -- especially students without much time or money -- can use all the help they can get.

Prior to the presentation, I had spent about a half hour tidying the kitchen and getting this meal ready to cook later in the day. Instead of one bulb of garlic, I used about 3/4 of a bulb of elephant garlic. The individual cloves were so big that I chopped them into big chunks, so that they did not retain their paper husks. Otherwise, I followed the recipe as described.

After the presentation, I had just a few minutes at home before my next class, but it was enough time to transfer the covered roasting pan from the refrigerator to the convection oven. Since our oven lives in the United States (Burma and Liberia are the only other countries where this would be a problem), I had to convert the temperatures in the recipe to our pre-1799 Farenheit system. I put it in the oven at 325 (the real number is 320, but we are used to working in increments of 25) and send a note to Pam about the timing of the second phase. After two hours, she uncovered it and kicked it up to 400 (392 is the actual equivalent).

When I returned from my class, Pam was steaming some beans from our CSA. As we had told our students earlier, Colchester Neighborhood Farm is a very important part of how we approach healthy, sustainable eating in our house. These had been frozen in season, and today were ready to provide some fiber, crispness, simple flavor and complimentary nutrients to balance the succulence and rich flavor of the chicken.

Food photography is a special skill that I do not possess, so I will spare readers the shabby photograph, but will ask that doubt be set aside when I report that the huge chunks of garlic turned green in this slow-roasting process. As Pam exclaimed early in the meal, this is company dinner -- especially if we want to share a savory treat on a day when we have no time for cooking. We had this incredible meal -- and will have leftovers -- for less than the cost of a fast-food "meal" and for about as much effort as mac & cheese.

We paired it with one of the last bottles of our first batch of Chardonnay -- adding about $3 to the cost of the meal. That is, for the cost of two soft drinks, we had two glasses each of pretty decent wine.

Just as important as preparing a good meal is taking the time to enjoy it together, using real plates, real place mats, and real napkins to reduce waste and add elegance. Even more elegance was provided, courtesy of the class we had visited earlier in the day. At the end of our talk "Coffee, Cacao, Campus, and Comida," we were very surprised to receive a nice note and very thoughtful gift from the students who had invited us. The candlestick they presented certainly enhanced the meal. Moreover, the star, sun, and moon evoke one of the coffees we had discussed with them. The family of Byron, the "Poet of Coffee" we had mentioned, sells its coffee in Nicaragua under the name Sol & Luna (Sun & Moon). Many of my coffee students tell me it is the best coffee they have ever had, and this candlestick will always remind us of one of our very favorite coffee growers.

Detail: No Vampires Were Harmed